Danville Express

Alamo intersection gets new traffic control signs

Officials to examine if 'No Right Turn' signs affect traffic

Commuters using Danville Boulevard near Stone Valley Road may soon see red after new traffic control signs have gone up to keep traffic from turning right on red at two of the four corners.

As of a week ago, the "No Right Turn on Red" signs have gone up for traffic northbound on Danville Boulevard at Stone Valley and for westbound Stone Valley traffic at Danville Boulevard. Members of the Alamo Roads Advisory Committee discussed the traffic effect at their Nov. 13 meeting.

County Senior Civil Engineer Mike Carlson said the changes came up during the final phases of a traffic realignment done at that intersection last year.

"We did a project out there last year that modified the intersection to add two left turn lanes off of southbound Danville Boulevard to eastbound Stone Valley to keep traffic moving," he explained.

Carlson said after observing traffic patterns through the area, the county decided to consider the signs as a means of creating gaps in the traffic flow. "We needed to make some space so that people could get out of the driveways and shops along Danville Boulevard." He added that with the increased traffic flow from having two left lanes, people going north on Danville Boulevard were encroaching onto the eastbound roadway in an unsafe manner.

Committee member Mike Gibson said they have been discussing the possibility of adding traffic control signs at that intersection since 2004. Gibson said the comprehensive plan for downtown Alamo proposed doing something to control traffic turning from Stone Valley onto northbound Danville Boulevard to allow people to safely get onto the road from businesses.

"When they redid that intersection they kind of did the opposite of what they said they were going to do," Gibson noted. Instead of limiting the turning at the corner, they installed a green arrow. "We talked about that multiple times at the Road Committee."

Carlson said they have done computer modeling of traffic flow and patterns at the intersection using their most recent traffic survey data and he said that overall it looks workable. "It is going to create some backups but it will clear itself out," he said.

Predictions show that the traffic will build up in the queue during rush hours, but that it is expected to clear out within one signal cycle. Over the next two months, Carlson said the county will be examining the effects of the signs and it is expected to be discussed at the Jan. 8 meeting of the roads committee

"I'd like to bring it back up at that meeting, do a health check at that time," Carlson said.